Exterior view
by GABRIEL, Ange-Jacques, Photo
The Grand Trianon was built for Louis XIV in the park of Versailles by Hardouin-Mansart in only six months in 1687-88. It is a permanent structure with an open columned hall and extended single-storey wings. His light-spirited design based on Italian models. Almost eighty years later, Louis XV ordered the building of its companion piece, the Petit Trianon for his favourite, Madame de Pompadour. Ange-Jacques Gabriel gave it a Palladian structure.
Gabriel’s sober rationality in planning and detail promoted the transition from Rococo to Neoclassicism. For forty years, Gabriel supplied all designs not only for exterior construction (the “Gabriel Wing” at Versailles was named for him in modern times) and also for the constant remodeling of interiors at Versailles. His Petit Trianon at Versailles is one of the gems of French Classicism.
The picture shows the courtyard fa�ade of the Petit Trianon in Versailles.